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alcohol. Billy could feel the man’s bones rearranging themselves within his fists as he started to transform.
    “If you shift, I’ll make sure that knife blade is between your eyes in less than ten seconds,” he said in a low rumble. “I’m that fast.”
    He met the eyes of the man who had until this point remained faceless. It was a rather ordinary face, although the man’s nose was enlarged. Clearly, he was a drinker. “That goes for you too, peckerhead.” He addressed the smaller man behind him.
    “You’re getting your nose all up in business that ain’t yours,” the older man said. “You’ll regret it.”
    “I doubt that,” Billy said with a sneer. “Pretty sure that girl isn’t here by her own accord. You’re lucky if I don’t kill you and put you out of your miserable existence.”
    “You think it’d be that easy, huh?” the man replied. Billy could see that the smaller man was dancing back and forth on his feet. Clearly, the man in his grasp was the guy with the brains.
    Billy knew that part of the man’s bluster was because he was a shifter. Billy let his nose elongate ever so slightly. He saw the man’s eyes widen, and that was when he sank a hard fist into the man’s stomach.
    The man bent over, and Billy brought up his knee to connect with the man’s jaw, and he broke it again. Shifters might have extraordinary healing powers, but if you splintered bone to high hell, it took quite a bit longer to heal. And it was extraordinarily painful, which served Billy just fine.
    “That’s enough!” There was a voice behind them then. Billy looked back over his shoulder. He saw a man that he knew from the pictures he had been studying. Eric Carmichael had arrived. There were two hulking forms flanking him, probably bouncers from the club.
    Billy shoved the man to the ground. He ignored Eric and instead turned his attention to the woman. He knelt down beside her and was stunned to see yet another familiar face. But the woman’s expression told him that she was terrified. He grasped her elbow, and she didn’t fight him as he pulled her to her feet. He could see that her face was smudged with dirt. She was shivering, but Billy didn’t guess it was from any chill in the air.
    “Thea? Are you all right?” Eric stepped forward, but Billy put his hand up.
    “Give her a minute. How about you focus on the dumbasses who were trying to rape a woman on your doorstep?” Billy was beyond being polite. The woman, Thea, stared up at him without a flicker of recognition in her eyes. He had seen the same expression countless times. She was in shock.
    The bouncers were already collecting the two men, and Billy barely heard the whispered voices between Eric and the two of them. ‘No police’ was mentioned several times in the brief exchange.
    “You need to file a report. These assholes need to be charged,” Billy said. He cupped Thea’s chin and brought her eyes up to his. “You’re okay. It’s all right. Nobody’s going to hurt you.”
    “My shoe…” Her voice was thready and faint as it trailed off.
    “Are you all right?” Eric pushed his way forward around Billy’s hand. Billy stepped in front of her and pushed on the man’s chest.
    “I said, give her a minute,” Billy growled.
    “Who the fuck do you think you are? That’s my sister,” Eric snarled back.
    There was another part of the puzzle that clicked into place. Billy knew that Eric had a stepsister from his father’s third marriage. Pictures of her had proved to be elusive as she didn’t seem to enjoy the limelight the way that the rest of her family did.
    “Your sister was just the victim of an attack,” Billy said, pulling out his authority voice. Now that he knew the score, he was back in his element. He had used the voice on countless occasions with hysterical family members. “You need to take a step back and take a beat. I’m a police officer. I know what needs to be done here better than you do.”
    “You’re a bit